Architectural Representations of Migration and Interculturality in Mouraria

This project studies the Martim Moniz plaza, located in Lisbon’s Mouraria neighborhood, as a case study of interculturality in contemporary Portugal. The plaza, located in an area of the city historically associated with marginalized communities, represents an ongoing struggle to inscribe a concept of the nation on urban space. Renovations of the plaza were based on the idea that social norms could be dictated by urban design. I investigate the evolution of this space, from Salazar’s first rehabilitations to the newest renovations in the late 2000’s, in order to interpret the right that immigrant populations within Portugal have to cultural citizenship and, in this process of negotiation, how myths of authenticity influence ongoing marginalization of minority populations. I explore how these myths are perpetuated by the evolution of this urban space, and the right to the city that these migrant groups gain and lose through such renovations. In order to discuss these social connections to urban space, I draw upon Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation, Lefebvre's The Production of Space, and de Certeau's The Practice of Everyday Life. A particular focus on the inauguration of the newest incarnation of the plaza in 2012 explores how an appeal to neoliberal economics turned the space into a diversity themed tourist attraction.  Through this investigation, I aim to help better understand the role of immigrants and first generation citizens within the contemporary Portuguese national imaginary.